Schedule
Hillsdale College (0-2, 0-2 G-MAC) at Walsh (0-3, 0-3 G-MAC) | 1 p.m. ET Saturday, April 10 | Bob Comings Field at Glen Oak High School | Canton, OH
Follow/Watch
Live Stats vs Walsh | Webcast vs Walsh | Tickets
Additional Info
Hillsdale Roster | Walsh Roster | 2021 Hillsdale Stats | 2021 Walsh Stats | G-MAC Schedule | Week 6 Game Notes | Hillsdale Preview
Scouting the Opposition
A middle-of-the-pack team throughout their three years in the G-MAC, the Cavaliers are still looking for their first winning season since joining the NCAA Division II ranks in 2012.
Walsh is off to an 0-3 start in the Spring 2021 season, though like the Chargers, all three losses have come to currently unbeaten teams that are considered G-MAC title contenders.
Facing off against the conference's top three offenses, the Cavalier defense has held up well, holding Findlay, Tiffin and Ohio Dominican all below their season averages in points in those three contests.
A strong linebacking corps of senior Sal Sidebotham, juniors Stephen Baugh and Doug Taylor and sophomore Matt Amison anchor Walsh's 3-4 scheme that's been effective in bending but not breaking against the best talent the G-MAC has to offer offensively.
While Walsh's defense has kept the Cavaliers in most games, the offense has consistently struggled so far. The Cavaliers are last in the conference in yards per game (165.3), and passing offense (110.3), and next to last in points per game (4.7) and rushing yards per game (55).
Senior Jeremy Hodge, a transfer from Division I New Mexico State, has started all three games at quarterback so far for Walsh, completing 56 percent of his passes for 324 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions.
Hodge has gotten little help from his run game, as the Cavaliers are averaging just 1.8 yards per carry. Senior Koby Adu-Poku, a four-year contributor at tailback for Walsh, has 123 yards on 45 carries and is the only player other than Hodge with more than four carries on the season.
Adu-Poku is also Hodge's most frequently targeted receiver, with 16 catches for 116 yards. Sophomore Keyshawn Johnson and senior Tyre Gray have each caught a touchdown pass as well for the Cavaliers.
Offensive line is a concern for Walsh, which has given up a G-MAC worst 10 sacks so far this season. Without more time in the pocket for Hodge and better running lanes for Adu-Poku, it will be hard for the Cavaliers to get back on track.
On special teams, freshman kicker Mason Brown is 2 for 2 on extra-point attempts, and junior punter Trey Crockett is averaging 38.9 yards per punt on 27 attempts, with a long of 65 that leads the G-MAC this season.
Adu-Poku is a dangerous return man, with an average of 19.4 yards on five kick returns and a long of 32 on the season.
Walsh is coached by John Fankhauser, who is in his third season at the helm of the Cavaliers with a 7-17 record overall. An assistant for 19 years at Walsh before taking over the head job, Fankhauser got his start under legendary Walsh coach Jim Dennison, joining the program after serving as a student assistant at his alma mater, Youngstown State, in the mid-90s.
The Series
Hillsdale leads the all-time series against Walsh 4-0, with an average margin of victory of 26.3 points per game. The two programs' first meeting was a 28-10 Hillsdale victory on Sept. 10, 2016, both teams' final year in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. The Chargers earned a shut-out on Sept. 28 of last season in the teams' most recent meeting, a 30-0 Hillsdale victory.
Other Notes
- Hillsdale fell to 0-2 with a 28-7 loss to Tiffin last week, and enter this weekend's game against Walsh looking to avoid their first five-game losing streak since 2015. The Chargers have not opened a season with three straight losses since 1998.
- Hillsdale returns four All-G-MAC honorees from last season's squad: G-MAC co-Freshman of the Year Luke Keller, first-team defensive back Zach Herzog, second-team wide receiver Konnor Maloney, and second-team linebacker Alex Anschutz.
- Maloney, a senior, became the seventh Charger in program history to crack 2,000 receiving yards for his career against Tiffin, and currently has 2,017, 28 behind Nick Gurica (04-08) for sixth place. He's also 10th in career receptions with 121, and needs two touchdown catches to break into the career top 10 for that stat as well. Maloney's 891 receiving yards in the 2018 season are also tenth all-time on Hillsdale's single-season record list.
- Special teams has been an important part of Hillsdale's success under Otterbein, and they're off to a strong start this season. Senior punter Jack Shannon was named the G-MAC Special Teams Player of the Week after setting a G-MAC record for yards per punt (48.4) in the contest, and leads the G-MAC by nearly eight yards in that stat. Redshirt freshman Caden Goggins also leads the G-MAC in kick return average (24 yards per attempt) and freshman Julian Lee is 5 for 5 on extra points and field goals and has the G-MAC's third-longest field goal so far (33 yards)
- Sophomore quarterback Luke Keller's 2,113 passing yards as a redshirt freshman in 2019 have him on an impressive career trajectory. He's just 1,585 yards behind Brian Boyse ('89) for 10th all time in career passing yardage. His 17 passing touchdowns also have him closing in on the top 10 all time list in that stat as well with several seasons of eligibility remaining.
- A senior captain, Alex Anschutz leads the Chargers with 24 tackles and is currently second in the G-MAC in tackles per game (12). An accomplished student, he's also one of four active football players to earn the President's Scholar-Athlete Award from Hillsdale this spring for maintaining a 3.8 or higher GPA throughout his time with the Chargers, along with Joey Brenner, Cole Johnson and Nathan LaFree.
- The Charger football program has long been known for its strong family tradition, and that continues in 2021 with five sets of brothers on the active roster: Ben Affholter and Nick Affholter, Matt Harding and Michael Harding, Michael Herzog and Zach Herzog, Bryan Hickey and Jacob Hickey, and Calvin McNellie and Carson McNellie. A sixth pair includes Garrett McKenzie and his brother Gavin, a student coach with the football team this season. Numerous other players have parents, grandparents or siblings that played football for Hillsdale College in the past.
- With 114 wins entering his 19th season with the Chargers, Otterbein is third all-time in career coaching victories at Hillsdale, trailing two Charger Athletics Hall of Famers in Frank "Muddy" Waters (138) and Dick Lowry (134). If he maintains his current career pace of wins per season, Otterbein would pass Waters for the all-time record in the fall of 2024.
